Fastener for a stack of sheet material



March 24, 1970 A. ogsux 3,501,815

FASTENER FOR A STACK OF SHEET MATERIAQ Filed Jan. 26, 1968 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 3,501,815 FASTENER FOR A STACK F SHEET MATERIAL Alexandre Dreux, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Filed Jan. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 700,905 Claims priority, appliiatiol Brazil, Jan. 30, 1967,

1 Int. Cl. A44b 19/30; B421 3/02, 9/00 U.S. Cl. 24-1531 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fastener constituted by first and second base plates detachably supporting a pair of flexible tubes which are adapted for being secured in the openings in sheet material of a stack. Each tube is interengaged with a base plate by being slid on a tongue therein.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to fasteners and in particular to fasteners which are adapted to secure a stack of sheets together.

The fasteners according to the invention may be employed on folders, pads of paper, or used alone to secure a loose stack of sheets.

The fastener according to the invention is characterized by the use of two tubes detachably secured to respective base plates and engaged in corresponding holes in the sheets.

The above-described fastener according to the invention eliminates many difliculties and shortcomings associated with the conventional types of fasteners. In one of such conventional fasteners, thin strips are passed through holes in the sheets and these strips have sharp edges which tear the paper during insertion and removal Of the strips. Moreover, these strips, due to their sharp edges, pose a safety hazard to the user. The tubes of the present invention remove the above disadvantages of the conventional fastener which uses strips. The tubes may be round or polygonal, but in either case present no hazard to the user or any danger as regards tearing or slitting of the sheets.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the tubes are secured to respective tabs which are formed on the associated base plates. The tabs may face towards or away from one another. The tubes are secured to the tabs such that they extend through respective holes in the base plate adjacent the tabs. In order to secure a stack of sheets, the tubes are engaged on the tubes of one base plate and passed through openings formed in the sheets and thereafter engaged on the tabs of a second base plate. Thereby the sheet material is secured on the tubes between the base plates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of a base plate of a fastener according to the invention,

FIGURE 1a is a side perspective view of a first embodiment of a tube adapted for use with the base plate,

FIGURE 1b is a side perspective view of another embodiment of a tube,

FIGURE 2 shows a tube mounted on the base plate,

FIGURE 3 shows the tube mounted in a different way on the base plate,

FIGURE 4 shows another embodiment of base plate with tubes mounted thereon,

FIGURE 5 shows a further embodiment of base plate with tubes mounted thereon,

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the other base plate of the fastener,

FIGURE 7 is perspective view of the assembled fastener utilizing the base plate of FIG. 6,

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of another embodiment of the other base plate of the fastener,

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the assembled fas tener utilizing the base plate of FIG. 8,

FIGURE 10 is a side sectional view showing the fastener of FIG. 7 engaged in a stack of sheets, and

FIGURE 11 is a side sectional view showing the fastener of FIG. 9 engaged in a stack of sheets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, therein is shown a base plate 1 with H-shaped slots formed therein to define respective pairs of tabs 2 at opposite ends of the base plate. The tabs 2 of each pair face one another.

A hollow tube is adapted for being mounted on each tab, and the tubes may be round as shown at 3 in FIG. 1a or polygonal as shown at 302 in FIG. 1b. The tubes are smooth and flexbile.

The tubes are secured to the tabs 2 by inserting a tab into an end of the tube and clampingly deforming the end of the tube onto the tab.

The tubes are mounted on the inner tabs 3, as shown in FIG. 2, when a large number of sheets are to be secured, and the tubes are mounted on the outer tabs, as shown in FIG. 3, when a lesser number of sheets are to be secured.

The base plate can have the simplified form as shown at 4 in FIG. 4, or the base plate can be constituted as two members 5 as shown in FIG. 5.

The base plate can be mounted on a folder, a backing member or board-for sheet material, or the base plate can be used separately in securing the sheet material together.

A second base plate or closing plate 7 is formed with tabs 6 as shown in FIG. 6. The tabs 6 are generally elongated and form flexible tongues. The tubes are secured to tabs 6.

To assemble a fastener and secure sheets of a stack together, the operation is as follows:

Tubes 3 or 3a are secured to tabs on a base plate by clamping an end of the tubes to the tabs. The tubes may be clamped by forcible insertion on the tabs or by deforming the ends of the tubes on the tabs. Such deformation may be effected by hand pressure since the tube material is thin and deformable. The tubes are then bent upwardly from the tabs and passed through openings in the sheets of the stack. There is no danger of damage to the sheets due to the shape of the tubes. The tubes will easily pass through the openings, since the tubes are readily adjustable relative to the base plate as a conse quence of the formation of the tabs.

The tubes are then engaged on the tabs on a closing plate 7 and thereby the sheets of the stack are safely secured. The tubes are secured to the tabs on closing plate 7 in the same manner as the tubes are secured to the base plate. The flexibility of the tabs 6 enables the tubes secured thereto to be flexible and easily engageable on the base plate. An assembled fastener is shown in FIG. 7 and the accommodation on the assembled fastener of a stack of sheets is shown in FIG. 10.

In order to open the fastener, the tubes are manually removed from the tubes on the base plate, and the sheets can be withdrawn.

A modified form of closing plate is shown at 8 in FIG. 8 wherein the tabs 6A face inwardly, towards one another, as compared to the outwards facing relation of tabs 6 in FIG. 6. The plate 7 is used with the arrangement of base plate and tubes as shown in FIG. 3, whereas the plate 8 isused with the arrangement of base plate and tubes as shown in FIG. 2. In the assembled fastener, the ends of the tubes on the base plate face in a direction 3 opposite the ends of the tubes on the closing plate as evident in FIGS. 7 and 9, and in the assemblies 9 and 10 in FIGS. 10 and 11 respectively.

The closing plates 7 and 8 both have holes 11 adjacent the tabs so that the tubes pass through the holes 11 before being inserted into the sheets. The holes 11 serve to guide and retain the ends of the tubes in the closing plate. This facilitates the insertion of the tabs into the tubes and the removal of the tubes from the tabs, while also providing rigidity to the fastener assembly.

The fastener enjoys the advantage that is occupies little space in a folder due to the relatively smallsize of the component parts. The fastener parts are constituted of flexible material such as nylon, polyesters, PVC and the like.

What is claimed is:

1. A fastener for a stack of sheet material having openings therein, said fastener comprising first and second base plates adapted for being located on opposite sides of a stack of sheet material, each base plate including tabs formed thereon, and two flexible tubes each having ends detachably secured to associated tabs on said base plates and adapted for passing into the stack through the openings in the sheet material therein wherebythe sheet material is secured on the tubes between the base plates.

2. A fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tubes are deformingly clamped to the tabs on the base plate and are bent to pass through the openings in the sheet material.

initially have a round cross-section.

4. A fastener as claimed in claim 2 wherein said tubes initially have a quadrangular cross-section.

5. A fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tabs 3. A fastener as claimed in claim 2 wherein said tubes 7 Q on said base plates are elongated members constituted as flexible tongues with oneend secured to the base plate and the other end free, said ends of said tubes which are secured with the latter tabs being placed over the free ends of the tongues and slidably secured therewith to enable said tubes to be moved relative to said base plates to engage and disengage the same.

6. A fastener as claimed in claim 5 wherein said togues face in opposite directions.

7. A fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tabs on one base plate are arranged in respective pairs facing in opposite directions, such that the ends of said tubes can be mounted on the tabs to be facing way from on another or towards one another.

8. A fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein one base plate has holes therein adjacent said tabs thereon such that the tubes pass through said holes and engage the tabs.

9. A fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein the ends of the tubes are secured to the respective tabs to face in opposite directions.

10. A fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one base plate is constituted by a pair of separate plate members each carrying one of said tabs on which a respective tube is secured.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner 

